Chance
by White Rose Withering
Summary: A Chance meeting. Christmas Fic Set After Series 4. Update: Chapter Two, Coffee.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Spooks and all it's characters belong to Kudos and the BBC.

**Author's Note:** This takes place after the Series 4 Final, small spoilers to beware of  
With Christmas upon us so soon, i just had to do a Christmas Harry & Ruth Fic.  
This is the first chapter so please Read and Review. Thank You for Reading and Enjoy! (Edited on the 6th of July 2006 to make it easier to read)

**Chance** **- Chapter One**

A bitter wind tossed snowflakes in the air; they danced in a wintry ballet. A thick blanket of snow covered everything as far as the eye could see. Trees, bridges and roof tops. Everything was bathed in white.

The Christmas season had descended upon London, bringing with it a sense of panic. People rushed from place to place carrying heavy boxes and multi coloured foil bags. Shop windows were drenched in fairy lights, so bright they were almost blinding. Christmas cards fell on doorsteps in their hundreds. And once again came the near impossible task of picking out Christmas presents for nearest and dearest.

Juliet Shaw pulled her coat around herself more securely in an attempt to stop the wind from tugging at her scarf. She sat on an icy bench, her legs crossed, brushing stray snowflakes from her expensive trouser suit. Her cold gaze fixed on the river.

Harry leant against the stone wall of the embankment, if the cold weather bothered him, he didn't let it show. He watched Juliet struggle with her scarf for the third time in seconds and had to force himself not to smile. When she had suggested a meeting, he had assumed she meant at Thames House or at her fashionable little office, not in full view of the public on a December night.

He let his gaze drift from her stony face to a young couple standing not ten feet from them. They only had eyes for each other. They kissed briefly, the tips of their fingers hardly even touched.

"So what do you think?" Juliet said after a minute.

"Obviously an affair," he said, turning back to her. "He's far too tense and she can't stop grinning like an idiot.

"Sound filmilar?"

Harry narrowed his eyes, his head to one side. "Meaning what?"

"Is your memory really that bad, Harry?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest, trapping her scarf against her, as she came to stand next to him. "Operation Omega?"

"Ah." Watching the couple walking away he shook his head. "We were never like that."

"We never had time to be like that," she told him, eyebrow raised. "As I remember you were far too busy hitting the bottle and threatening my career if your wife ever found out."

A smile formed as he remembered the conversation that had taken place. "Romantic time of year though, don't you think?" The smile faded to leave behind a peaceful seriousness in its wake.

Juliet scoffed. "Get that from the couple having the affair did you?" She laughed; it was almost a harsh sound. "You've been spending too much time around Ruth, and listening to her go on about romance novels or whatever."

Harry felt his jaw clench. He went very still. "Let's stop this shall we?" Harry pressed his hands flat on the stone wall. Even though the leather of his gloves, he could feel the coldness of the snow. "We're only sickeningly nice to each other when we want something. So just spit it out Juliet."

She sighed and dropped her gaze to the snow littered ground. "Alright, I want Adam Carter taken off active service."

"Over my dead body."

"Harry," she said, exasperated. "He can't go into the field; he can barely sit behind a desk."

"He's been able to get a lot…"

"Come on Harry. While he's suffering from his injury you've had to send both Ruth and Jo into the field, and both of us know that they're not up to it after that whole fiasco with Angela Wells," she said, firmly. "And I know how much you hated doing that."

Harry went silent; there was nothing he could say. She had already made up her mind. No power on this earth would change it.

"Either Adam is put on sick leave so that he can concentrate on recovering, or I'm going over your head to the DG."

He started to say something scathing but thought better of it. He settled for glaring at Juliet instead.

She tapped his shoulder. "You've got until Saturday, Harry."

He made an _"hmm"_ noise as she walked towards her waiting car. He couldn't help but think that she had a point. Adam was recovering from a severe gun shot wound and while he was working, he wasn't giving himself enough time to heal. And while Adam was suffering from his injury, Harry had to make all sorts of decisions that he didn't want to, ones that he loathed to do. Adam should still be in the hospital. It didn't matter how many times he said he was fine, Harry had seen him pop far too many pain killers. Far more than was recommended. Of course he was going to protest, insist that he was well enough to work. Sick leave would give him time to spend with Wes, at least.

Harry had almost come to a decision when he saw her. Her hair pulled back from her face. Her red shirt standing out from the white coat she wore. Juggling several bags at once, she looked no different from the hundreds of women that walked along the embankment everyday. Yet all those women never fascinated him the way she did.

Almost by chance, Ruth turned her head to look at him. She met his gaze for a brief moment, before looking away. A smile tugging up the corners of her mouth.

"We really should stop meeting like this Harry," she said, coming to stand only a few feet away from him.

"It's not intentional, I promise you."

There was the faintest hint of colour to her cheeks, though he couldn't be certain if it was from the weather.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was Christmas shopping in town and ran into some old friends," she explained, giving the carrier bags an enthusiastic rattle. "How about you? Just finishing work?"

He looked out at the river briefly. "I just had a meeting with Juliet."

"Ah always a good time," she said, nodding. "So what did the witch want now?"

Harry laughed before he could stop himself. He'd always said Ruth was an excellent judge of character. "Nothing worth repeating," he said, finally.

"Right," she said nodding, her pony tail bobbing at the back of her head. "You don't fancy a coffee do you?" As soon as she said it, she started chewing on her bottom lip.

For a second Harry forgot to breathe. He closed his eyes and went over what she said again, just to make sure that he had heard her correctly. He hadn't realized until then how tense he actually was.

He had been quiet for a long time, too long. Ruth's face fell. She started babbling about an easy start tomorrow and something else that he didn't quite catch. For a moment he thought that she had slipped into a different language altogether.

"Ruth," he said softly.

She took a deep breath and made herself look him in the eye.  
"I'd love to."

As soon as it rolled off his tongue, her face lit up. Those clear blue eyes shined with something close to delight, though he wasn't completely sure. Whatever it was made him glad that he had finally had enough courage to say yes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Spooks and all it's characters belong to Kudos and the BBC.

**Author's Note:** This takes place after the Series 4 Final, so beware of small spoilers  
This is the Second and Final Chapter. Chance is the first part in a Christmas Trilogy, so keep looking for the second part.  
Please Read and Review. Thank You and Enjoy! (Edited on the 6th of July 2006 to make it easier to read)

**Chance - Chapter Two **

The café was crowded, buzzing with Christmas chatter. The tables were too close together, waitresses running up and down them, trying not to spill coffee as they went. The word claustrophobic came to mind. Even though the heating was stuck on full blast and the coffee tasted burnt, Harry was glad to be out of the snow.

Their table had been chosen towards the back of the café in attempt to minimize the chance of being recognised. Though Ruth had insisted upon a table near the window, so that she could look out at the snow. She said it was calming. And as she had pointed out there was nothing wrong with two colleagues talking over a cup of coffee. She was right, he knew that, but he couldn't stop the tension from running down his spine every time someone walked through the door.

Ruth sat across from him, huddled around her coffee, using the polystyrene cup to warm her hands. With the coat had gone the red of her shirt was in stark comparison against her skin. Her eyes wandered to the sugar shaker yet again as she thought about pouring more into her already sweetened coffee. Not that it needed it; it just gave her hands something to do.

Their conversation, to say the least, had been an awkward one. Besides the odd phone call, or meeting on a bus, they hadn't spent time together outside of work. Ruth had started babbling about the book she was reading, all but giving him a word for word summary. Not that Harry had complained, he enjoyed listening to her. At times, her voice had such soothing tendencies.

Harry looked at her across the top of his coffee and sighed. Even in the harsh glare of the café, she looked lovely. Her hair looked darker somehow, more of a chocolate brown. The clear cut blue of her eyes that always stole his breath away. The warm scent of hazelnut coffee mixed with the faint hint of vanilla that she always wore.

At work he could distance himself from her, shut himself in his office and lock away his feelings along with every legend of his career. But sitting across from her, Harry couldn't bare to. All he thought about was how much he wanted to reach across the table and take her hand in his. How much he wanted to hold her close, feel her heart beating against him. All he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss her.

"Can you believe it's December already?" Ruth asked, staring out of the window. Her voice snapping Harry back to reality. "The past year has gone so quickly."

"Hell of a year though."

She rolled her eyes, and stirred her coffee. "Don't remind me." As she sighed, a tiny smile started to turn up the edges of her mouth. "Christmas will be over soon, at least."

"Something to be thankful for," he said, sipping his coffee.

"Are you doing anything nice?" She asked; raising her gaze.

"Catherine's back from Tel Aviv. She's roped me into spending the day with her," he said, simply. Ruth smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "What about you?"

She cringed. "Oh I drew the short straw this year, so my dad is coming to stay for a few days."

He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was less than happy about it. "I would have thought you'd be glad to spend some time with your father, after this past month," he said, carefully.

She straightened, tension sang down her arms. She wouldn't meet his gaze. "Hmm, well maybe I'd rather spend this Christmas with my cat," she said, somewhat defensively. "It's bad enough I have to survive this bloody get together next week."

"Been bombarded with Christmas party invitations?"

"Something like that," she said. A smile breaking through her cooled expression.

Outside the snow had stopped, though the wind still raged on. The white blanket that had covered the road had almost been cleared to one side by the traffic. Grit had been put down on the pavement to stop it resembling an ice rink.

Ruth frowned. "Do you think there's even a remote chance that we could be snowed in at work?" she asked, staring out of the window.

"Well if we are, Malcolm and Colin will be the first ones to start digging a way out."

Their eyes met across the table for a brief moment. Ruth was first to look away. She felt the heat rise up her face and found something interesting to stare at on the floor.

"Right, well I'd better be getting home," she said, almost regretfully. "Things to do, presents to wrap, that sort of thing."

Harry nodded. "It'll be impossible to find a taxi in this weather," he said, reaching for his mobile. "I'll phone…"

Ruth cut him off with a wave of her hand. "There's no need Harry," she told him, a smile plastered across her face. "The bus stop's only around the corner."


End file.
